On August 20, at 8pm (central) / 9pm (eastern), Ryan Howard and I will be live on the Rollin' Bones podcast to celebrate the works of Clark Ashton Smith. Currently, we are both reading (and rereading) a fine selection of CAS tales. Your mission, should you elect to join us to share your own thoughts and observations, is to read (or reread, as it were) any or all of the following tales before the show:

Horror Story:
"The Devotee of Evil"

Xiccarph Story:
"The Flower Women"

Averoigne Stories:
"The Satyr"
"Mother of Toads"

Zothique Stories:
"The Charnel God"
"The Isle of the Torturers"

Hyperborea Stories:
"The Tale of Satampra Zeiros"
"The Seven Geases"

Ryan and I will review these stories in the context of their respective cycles, we'll discuss our personal reactions to them, and of course we will chat about how these stories can relate to gaming and creativity. I am a longtime fan of CAS's fiction, which I have incorporated into my Castle Zagyg works with Gary Gygax, as well as my own role-playing game, HYPERBOREA, and I never cease to marvel at the man's brilliance.

Would you like to join us? Great! Start reading! You can find all of these tales on a website called Eldritch Dark. You can even find audio versions of some of them on YouTube. Read one or two, or read them all. As we get closer to the show, Ryan and I will post a link to it.

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Clark Ashton Smith was a poet, sculptor, painter and author of fantasy, horror and science fiction short stories. It is for these stories, and his literary friendship with H. P. Lovecraft from 1922 until Lovecraft's death in 1937, that he is mainly remembered today. With Lovecraft and Robert E. Howard, also a friend and correspondent, Smith remains one of the most famous contributors to the pulp magazine Weird Tales.
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CAS was a man of many talents. Pictured here is one of his sculptures.